When London architect Thomas Housden decided that the design process was too remote from manufacturing, he took matters into his own hands: these terracotta pendants are the result.

Housden is a practicing architect who teaches design studios at Cambridge University. Last year, he started the Hand & Eye Studio in London to bring the "making" back into designing. He began by exploring terracotta, one of the oldest building materials in existence, by collaborating with one of the few remaining traditional terracotta potteries in the UK and recently launched a line of terracotta pendant lights, a fusion of old and new that speaks to the organic process of design. "The relationship between the designer and the physical object allows for subtle judgment in shape, space, texture, and color that could otherwise be missed," he says. "Perhaps more importantly, it allows for experimentation and accidental finds."

Above: Housden shows off prototypes of his terracotta lamps in his studio.